


Overcoming Differences

by fangirl98



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-28
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 08:19:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2685797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl98/pseuds/fangirl98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: None if these characters but Andrea belong to me. Everyone else belongs to J. K. Rowling.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Years 1-3

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: None if these characters but Andrea belong to me. Everyone else belongs to J. K. Rowling.

First Year

Andrea Blake waved goodbye to her parents and climbed aboard the Hogwarts Express. Her heart was thudding in her chest as she searched for an empty compartment. She didn't know anyone yet and, being half-blood, she hadn't exactly grown up surrounded by witches and wizards. Andrea didn't feel confident with asking to sit with anyone because she didn't know anybody.

She passed numerous compartments already filled with students chattering excitedly, some about starting at Hogwarts and others about returning. She passed a compartment with three boys inside.

Two were quite large, with cropped brown hair and small eyes. With just one glance, Andrea could tell they were both pretty stupid.

The third boy was significantly smaller than the other two, but most likely still bigger than Andrea herself. His platinum blonde hair was slicked back on his head and his skin was pale under the light streaming in through the train window. If it wasn't for the sneer plastered across his face, Andrea would've said he looked angelic.

He glanced towards the compartment door, on the other side of which Andrea stood. His eyes were a silvery-grey, the colour of melted steel, and they held Andrea's chocolate brown ones for a second before she looked away and continued down the train.

The next time she saw him was when the first years were waiting to go into the Great Hall.

"So it's true then, what everyone was saying on the train? Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." The pale boy was addressing a boy with scruffy black hair whom Andrea was stood close to. The Boy Who Lived? She'd heard about him.

The pale boy gestured to the two stupid-looking boys flanking him. "This is Crabbe and Goyle. And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

The red-haired boy stood next to Harry Potter snorted, and Draco Malfoy looked at him in disgust.

"Think my name's funny, do you? There's no need to ask yours, is there? Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley." The red-head's ears went pink, and Andrea decided she didn't like Draco Malfoy. No matter how many butterflies had disrupted her stomach when she saw him on the train.

Professor McGonagall appeared behind Malfoy and tapped him impatiently on the shoulder with a scroll of parchment. He moved away and she said,

"We are ready for you now. Follow me." Andrea had never been so nervous in all her eleven years of existence.

They were led into the Great Hall and Andrea marvelled at how amazing it looked, especially the ceiling.

"It's bewitched to look like the night sky," a bushy-haired girl in front of Andrea was explaining to another first year.

"At the very front of the Hall, in front of the teachers table, was a stool with a very old and battered-looking hat sat upon it.

"... I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head and you shall be sorted into your houses," Andrea only heard the last half of what McGonagall was saying.

The professor unrolled the scroll of parchment and called the first name: Hermione Granger. It turned out to be the bushy-haired girl in front of Andrea.

One by one, names were called ad each person sat on the stool. The Sorting Hat was placed on their heads and they were sorted into their houses. Their new families within Hogwarts, McGonagall had said.

Draco Malfoy was called up, and the hat had barely touched the platinum blonde hair on his head before it yelled out,

"Slytherin!" Malfoy looked extremely pleased, smug even, as he joined the Slytherin table.

Andrea was among the last to be sorted. The older witch placed the hat on her head and it slipped forward slightly, making it difficult for her to see.

"Gryffindor!" The hat finally called out, and Andrea smiled in relief. As her sight was returned, she saw the table of red and gold cheering and she grinned as she hopped off the stool and headed to join them.

On her way down, however, she couldn't help but steal a glance over at the Slytherin table. Once again, her eyes locked with silvery-grey ones, but this time Andrea wasn't the first to look away.

Malfoy looked down at the table, a pink twinge colouring his pale cheeks.

Andrea frowned slightly, before sitting down at the Gryffindor table next to a sandy-haired boy who introduced himself as Seamus Finnigan.

"Andrea Blake," she said, smiling. A dark-skinned boy on the other side of Seamus looked at Andrea and said,

"I'm Dean Thomas." Andrea giggled.

"Hi Dean."

"I'm Ron Weasley," the red-haired boy from earlier spoke up, and Harry Potter nervously introduced himself as well.

"Hi, Harry!" Andrea said cheerfully, wanting to make the boy feel more comfortable. "I'm Andrea." He smiled at her.

Andrea could hear Hermione Granger talking to Percy Weasley, one of the Gryffindor prefects, about all of the different classes. Andrea leaned forward slightly.

"Hermione, what class are you looking forward to the most? I'm Andrea by the way." Hermione turned to her.

"I can't decide which one I'm looking forward to the most," she said enthusiastically. "I think Transfiguration sounds one of the most interesting, but it also sounds like it would be the most difficult."

"I think Charms might be good," Andrea said. Hermione smiled and nodded in agreement.

The two girls spent the remainder of the meal talking, and Andrea found herself opening up to Hermione more than she had ever done with her other friends. Pretty soon, though, Dumbledore was stood in front of them once again, giving them a few start-of-term notices before ushering them off to bed.

Percy led the Gryffindor first years to a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress.

"Password?" She asked. Percy said the password, and the portrait swung open. The first years followed Percy in and were soon in a circular room with the Gryffindor drapes lining the walls, a roaring fire and numerous sofas and chairs dotted around. There was a large arched window near the fireplace and two staircases opposing each other leading off of the room.

"Boys, follow those stairs up to the first door on your left for your dormitory," Percy said, gesturing to one of the staircases. "Girls, same rules apply up that staircase. All of your belongings have already been brought up for you. Breakfast is at 8am, and you'll get your new timetables then. Sleep well."

The students all filed up the separate staircases. Andrea and Hermione were jittery with excitement. As soon as the girls spilled into their new dormitory, Andrea immediately saw her trunk at the end of the bed nearest the window.

"Yes!" She exclaimed running and jumping onto it. Hermione ran to her own bed which was next to Andrea's and giggled, and the two other girls in the dormitory did the same.

Pretty soon, all of them were climbing into bed, exhausted from the exciting day. Andrea fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the soft, full pillow.

"Blake!" Andrea groaned as she heard her name being called from the other end of the corridor behind her. It was almost June, and almost the end of her first year at Hogwarts.

She'd become best friends with Hermione Granger, Seamus Finnigan and became the Weasley twins' apprentice. She didn't get along so well with Draco Malfoy, his cronies or his supposed 'girlfriend' Pansy Parkinson.

She spun on her heel in time to see a dungbomb headed for her face. She gasped and managed to duck in time, letting the thing soar over her head and hit the wall behind her.

She straightened up and sighed. She was getting bored of Malfoy's childish pranks.

"Need to work on your aim a little," she said, smiling sweetly before walking outside. Andrea constantly thought back to the first time she ever laid eyes on Draco Malfoy, marvelling at how stupid she'd been to think he looked angelic! He was far from angelic, closer to being the spawn of Satan himself.

Second Year

Slipping into an empty train compartment, Andrea sighed. She sunk down onto the seat nearest the window and watched the green English scenery fly by.

She was looking forward to returning to Hogwarts for her second year, but she had a strange feeling that not everything was going to go well. She didn't know why, but she couldn't shake it.

The sound of the compartment door sliding opening interrupted her thoughts and she turned to see Draco Malfoy sauntering in. Andrea was surprised to see he was without his 'bodyguards'.

"Good summer, Blake?" He asked, smirking. He sat down beside her.

"Fine, thanks," She replied politely.

"Did you miss me?" He swung an arm across her shoulders.

"Nope." He opened his mouth to say something before the compartment door slid open once more to reveal Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Seamus asked, narrowing his eyes at the Slytherin.

"You should really leave now, Malfoy," Andrea said.

"And why's that, Blake?" Malfoy asked, leaning closer to her. She sighed before elbowing him in the stomach. His arm retreated from around her as he doubled over in pain.

"It wasn't that hard, Malfoy," Andrea said. She really wasn't in the mood to be dealing with him. "Stop being such a girl."

Andrea sat on a bench with Ron and Hermione, going over their Charms homework.

"Oh no, I smell trouble," she heard Ron say. The two girls looked up and followed his gaze to see the Gryffindor Quidditch team and the Slytherin team arguing.

They stood up and walked over to them. Ron and Hermione stood next to Harry, whilst Andrea stood further back.

"I heard your team's got a new seeker," Oliver Wood said. "Who?" There was a few seconds of silence while the Slytherin team parted and let Draco Malfoy make his way to the front.

"Malfoy?" Harry said incredulously. Andrea rolled her eyes at Malfoy's smirk, and stopped listening as he began bragging about how his father, Lucius, had bought the entire Slytherin team brand new Nimbus 2001 broomsticks.

"At least Harry didn't have to buy his way onto the team," Hermione said, folding her arms across her chest. "He got in based on pure talent."

Malfoy stepped closer to her, and Andrea inhaled sharply. What was he going to do?

"Nobody asked you," he said nastily. "You filthy little Mudblood." Andrea and all the other Gryffindors gasped, horrified, while the Slytherins all snickered. She was amazed at how Hermione hadn't even blinked. She was currently staring Malfoy down.

"You'll pay for that one Malfoy," Ron cried, pulling out his sellotaped wand. "Eat slugs!" An awful green light blasted backwards from the wand and knocked Ron about 10 feet back. The Slytherins all burst out laughing as Ron sat up, rolled over and started convulsing. The Gryffindors, minus Andrea, all ran over to him.

Andrea winced as she heard Ron throw up, and she thought it safe to assume that the spell had backfired and had made him regurgitate slugs.

Malfoy was still laughing, and she glared at him. She walked towards him, and he smirked. Her hand moved, but instead of reaching for her wand, she reached up and slapped Malfoy hard across the face. He looked back at her, shocked. A hand mark was already vividly showing on his cheek, and she smirked, satisfied with herself.

She leaned in closer to him, before whispering, "If you ever call Hermione that again, you won't get let off so lightly." She smiled sweetly before running off to catch up with Harry, Ron and Hermione as they made their way down to Hagrid's hut.

Third Year

Andrea sat down beside Hermione at the Welcoming Feast.

"Hey, guys," she greeted Hermione, Ron and Harry.  
"Hey, Andie," they all greeted her. Andrea frowned as she noticed their expressions.

"Something wrong?" She asked. Harry shook his head.

"We'll tell you when we get back to the common room," he said. She nodded, but then her attention was drawn by a commotion at the Slytherin table.

"What the...?" Harry and Ron turned in their seats to watch Malfoy doing an imitation of someone fainting.

"Just forget it," Hermione told them. They turned back. Harry's expression was sour.

"I take it that's got something to do with it?" Andrea asked tentatively. Harry sighed.

"Basically, you know the Dementors came onto the train to search it for Sirius Black?" Andrea nodded. "Well..." Harry seemed to be struggling for words.

"They had a nasty effect on Harry, and he fainted," Hermione finished.

"And Malfoy seems to be having a field day because of it," Ron muttered.

"Don't worry," George Weasley piped up from the other side of Hermione. "The little git wasn't so cocky when the Dementors were down our end of the train. He came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"

"Nearly wet himself," said Fred, picking up a chicken leg from one of the newly-filled plates in front of him. Andrea snorted.

"Sounds about right," she said, helping herself to a piece of pie. "He should swap names with Parkinson; Pansy suits him much better." Fred and George agreed.

"So, worthy apprentice," Fred began.

"Got any new tricks for us this year?" George finished. Andrea's brown eyes twinkled.

"I just might," she said. "But you'll have to wait and see."

Draco Malfoy looked up from his plate and the first thing he saw was Andrea. Merlin, she was beautiful. She was sat with those pathetic idiots the Weasley twins, along with Granger, Weasley and Potter.

"Draco," Pansy Parkinson purred in his ear. "

"What Pansy?" He replied, irritated.

"Could you pass me the sausages?" He sighed and handed her the plate. He noticed that she purposely brushed her fingers across his hands, and he resisted the urge to cringe. What did he ever do to get stuck with her?

Draco looked back up at Andrea, and saw that she was now laughing at something, and his heart ached with the need to be the one making her laugh.

Her chocolate brown eyes sparkled with excitement and happiness, and he wondered if she ever felt about that moment on the train, first year.

Probably not, he thought bitterly, stabbing a piece of beef with his fork.

"Watch it, mate," Blaise Zabini nudged him. "That beef never did anything to you." Draco forced a laugh, before shoving the food into his mouth.

His eyes wandered once again back to Andrea. Her hair was a chestnut brown, and it was shimmering under the lights of the Great Hall. Draco wondered how soft it was, how easy it would be to run his fingers through it...

"What's wrong Draco?" Pansy's voice interrupted his thoughts, and for once he was thankful. He needed to stop thinking like that.

"Nothing, Pansy," he said. "Just tired, is all." He glanced at Blaise, whose eyebrow was raised.

Draco shot him a look, and Blaise carried on eating. He was the only person who knew how Draco felt about Andrea, and there was the rare occasion when Draco wished he hadn't confided in his fellow Slytherin.

But he was thankful to have someone to talk to about it. Blaise was more forgiving than most Slytherins, something one didn't realise unless they knew Blaise as well as Draco did.

As he lay in bed that night, he wondered what Andrea was thinking at that very moment.

Andrea followed Harry, Ron and Hermione down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's hut for their first Care Of Magical Creatures Class. As the class gathered around Hagrid, she noticed Malfoy and realised that the Slytherins and Gryffindors must be sharing the class. She groaned inwardly.

"So, firs' thing to do is open yer books–"

"How, exactly?" Andrea rolled her eyes as Malfoy questioned Hagrid.

"What?" Asked Hagrid.

"How do we open the books?" Malfoy asked, cockily repeating his question extra slowly as if Hagrid were stupid.

"You stroke the spine, Malfoy," Andrea spoke up. She glared the Slytherin, who smirked at her.

"I've got something you can stroke, Martin," he said, winking. The Slytherins all laughed, cheering.

"Is that so?" Andrea asked. She faced him. "Oh, that's right; your face with my fist!" Seamus grabbed her wrist to restrain her, and Malfoy looked taken aback for a second before the smirk returned. Andrea's eyes sparkled with anger, and she returned her attention to Hagrid.

"God, this place has gone to the dogs," Malfoy stated, taking a bite of an apple."Wait until my father hears that Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes."

"Shut up Malfoy," Harry said quietly. Andrea bit her lip, stopping her from saying anything. Malfoy and his cronies jeered at Harry, and then he suddenly looked stricken.

"Dementor, Dementor!" He cried, pointing behind Harry. The Gryffindors all spun on their heel, but saw nothing. The Slytherins all laughed.

"Ahem." Hagrid cleared his throat. The students all faced him. "Say hello to Buckbeak!" Andrea gasped as she saw the most beautiful creature she'd ever laid eyes on. It was half horse, half eagle, with the biggest yellow eyes she'd ever seen.

"Hagrid," Ron began. "Exactly what is that?"

"It's a–"

"Hippogriff," Andrea interrupted Hagrid. He looked at her and smiled when he saw the look of awe on her face as she looked at the creature.

"Andrea's correct," he said. "Buckbeak is a Hippogriff. Now, the firs' thing you wan' to know about Hippogriffs is that they're very proud creatures and very easily offended. If you insult a Hippogriff, it will most likely be the last thing you ever do."

Buckbeak raised his chin a little, as if he could understand every word coming out of Hagrid's mouth.

"Who wants to come an' say hello?" Hagrid asked enthusiastically. Students began murmuring, but no-one volunteered. Andrea opened to her mouth to say she would but Harry beat her to it.

"I'll do it," he said. Andrea clapped softly as Harry was the first to approach Buckbeak.

Draco was astounded at the look on Andrea's face when Hagrid brought out the Hippogriff. He personally didn't see the appeal of the half horse, half bird, but then she wasn't like him.

But that was nothing compared to the shock he'd felt when she'd threatened to punch him. There was real anger behind her words; he very much doubted she was bluffing.

He also found it strange that she seemed to prefer using physical violence rather than magic to hurt him. Maybe that's what came with growing up with a Muggle parent.

I don't understand how someone as amazing as her is only a half-blood, he thought incredulously.

Draco ignored all of the gasps following Potter's adventure with the Hippogriff. He wanted to show Andrea that he could do anything Potter could. He dumped his bag on the floor and threw his apple down.

"Well done, Harry!" The Gryffindors were cheering. Andrea was clapping happily and laughing.

"Oh, please," Draco said, and strode towards the Hippogriff.

"Hey!" A Gryffindor said as he was pushed aside.

"You're not dangerous at all, are you?" Draco said, nearing Buckbeak. "You great ugly brute."

"Malfoy..." Hagrid said, but he trailed off when Buckbeak suddenly reared. Draco looked up in shock and lifted his arm to shield his face as Buckbeak brought his talons down and, amidst the gasps of the students, Draco cried out in pain as he landed on the floor. Andrea gasped.

"Buckbeak!" Hagrid cried, waving his arms up to calm the Hippogriff. He threw a dead ferret to distract Buckbeak.

"It's killed me, it's killed me!" Malfoy was yelling, and Andrea bit down on her fist to stop her from laughing out loud.

"Calm down, it's just a scratch," Hagrid said, clearly trying to control his panic.

"Hagrid, he has to be taken to the hospital wing," Andrea said, calmly. Hagrid leaned down and scooped Malfoy up easily, who was whimpering like crazy.

"You'll regret this," he said. "You and your bloody chicken." Andrea shook her head in disbelief.

"I didn't think anyone could be that stupid!" She said, picking her bag up.

"It was that oaf's fault!" Pansy shrieked, tears streaming down her face. "He should be sacked!"

"It had nothing to do with Hagrid," Andrea replied, her tone flat.

"It was Malfoy's fault," Dean Thomas snapped. Andrea sighed and walked quicker than the rest of the group, ignoring the Slytherins' quips about Hagrid.

She headed straight to the library to make a head start on the Arithmancy essay they'd been given. She was supposed to be doing it with Hermione, but she figured the other witch would be with Harry and Ron after what had just happened.

Andrea was looking for Ron and Hermione in Hogsmeade, when she heard Malfoy's voice:

"Are you two shopping for your new dream home? It's a bit grand for you isn't it Weasle-bee? Don't your family sleep in one room?" Andrea followed the voice, and hid behind a tree when she saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle rounding on Ron and Hermione.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Ron muttered.

"Oh, not very nice," Malfoy said, and Andrea could practically hear the sneer. "Boys, how about we teach Weasle-bee how to respect his superiors."

Hermione gave a hard, sarcastic laugh. "I hope you don't mean yourself." She said, jumping to Ron's defence.

"How dare you speak to me?" Malfoy demanded, stepping towards Hermione. "You filthy little Mudblood." Andrea's blood boiled and she reached for her wand.

She was ready to hex him into next week when a snowball came out of nowhere and hit Malfoy right in the face. She giggled to herself, leant against the tree and decided to see how this would pan out.

Draco pulled himself back up from the snow and headed in the direction of Hogsmeade Village, pushing Crabbe and Goyle out of the way.

As he passed a tree, he caught a glimpse of chestnut brown hair under a black beanie. He looked back again and his eyes locked with Andrea's, and he realised that she'd heard him call Granger a Mudblood.

He looked away, thinking back to second year when she'd slapped him for calling Granger a Mudblood.

"You won't get let off so lightly if you do it again," she'd said. From the glare she'd just sent his way, he had no doubt that she was angry.

Then he began to remember the bolt of electricity as her hand had come into contact with his cheek, how soft her hand had been...

Stop! Draco scolded himself, shaking his head to clear the thoughts.


	2. Year 4

Disclaimer: I only own Andrea, the rest is J. K. Rowling's.

Draco and his friends entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, laughing at their theories of how the teacher would meet his downfall this year. Their laughter was silenced, however, when Professor Mad-Eye Moody glared at them from his desk at the front.

They sat down at their seats quietly and Draco's eyes scanned the room. He found her, sitting at her desk, doodling in the back of what he thought must be a diary of some kind.

She looks adorable, he thought.

"Alastor Moody," the ex-Auror began the class. Muttering between students ceased, and Andrea slipped the diary back into her bag.

Draco didn't pay much attention to what Moody was saying. Something about Unforgivable Curses?

"Imperio," Moody said, and Draco looked to the front to see a huge spider floating about. Students were laughing as it landed on people's desks and books. Draco couldn't stop himself when it landed on Weasley's face.

"What are you laughing at?" Moody asked, gleefully planting the spider on Draco's face.

"Get it off!" He cried to Goyle, who waved his arms stupidly. Moody eventually removed the spider and Draco heaved a sigh of relief. He glanced over at Andrea, who was watching him with a mild curiosity. He felt his cheeks heat up, and Andrea broke eye contact, seemingly indifferent.

He once again didn't listen to Moody as he rambled on about people using the Imperius Curse. He didn't look back at the front of the class until he saw Andrea's expression grow stricken, and he saw Moody performing the Cruciatus Curse on the spider.

He winced as he heard the spider's squeaks of pain, and looked at Andrea again to see that she was holding a hand to her mouth and her eyes were watering.

Draco desperately wanted to comfort her, but he knew he couldn't.

"I don't give a damn what your father thinks Malfoy!" Andrea heard Harry yelling across the courtyard. "He's vile, and cruel. And you're just pathetic." She shoved her books in her bag and hurried to see what was going on.

She pushed through the crowd of students to see Harry walking away from Malfoy, who was drawing his wand with an angry expression on his pale face.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Someone yelled and an angry golden light struck Malfoy. Andrea watched as he shrunk, disappearing and leaving in his place a white ferret.

The students laughed and Andrea smiled slightly as Moody tormented the poor animal by waving it around everywhere.

"Professor Moody!" McGonagall called. "What are you doing?"

"Teaching," Moody replied, concentrating on the ferret.

"Is that a student?" McGonagall exclaimed in disbelief.

"Technically it's a ferret," was the reply, before Moody deftly shoved it down Crabbe's trousers. Andrea winced, feeling sorry for Malfoy. The students continued to laugh as Crabbe wriggled and Goyle attempted and failed to retrieve the ferret, getting bitten in the process.

It finally emerged from Crabbe's left leg, and McGonagall swiftly waved her wand. Malfoy appeared, looking shaken. He struggled to stand, and Andrea assisted him.

He looked up and met her eyes, sparkling with both amusement and sympathy, before whirling around and staring, wide-eyed, at Professor Moody.

"My father will hear about this!" He declared, backing away from Moody.

"Is that a threat?" The ex-Auror yelled, advancing on Malfoy who moved swiftly around the base of the tree. Moody continued yelling at Malfoy as he ran off, followed by the Slytherins.

Later on, Andrea was in the Great Hall doing a Transfiguration essay when she overheard the Slytherins talking on their table.

"... he's such a cheat, my father's furious that he's being allowed the chance to compete," she overheard, and it was unmistakably Malfoy talking.

She listened to bit longer before turning around and facing them. Malfoy's eyes widened and then he smirked.

"Shut up Malfoy," she said, narrowing her eyes. His smirk grew.

"Make me, Blake," he said, challenging her with his gaze.

She grabbed hold of her Transfiguration textbook – the heaviest one she owned – and hurled it in his direction with such force that it even made her nervous.

He only just managed to duck in time and the book soared over his head, landing with a thud on the floor behind him.

The Great Hall had gone silent, with students from Hogwarts watching them with interest, Beauxbatons students watching with shock and amusement, and the Durmstrang students looked impressed.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss Blake," a cold voice spoke up, and the Slytherins all adopted smug expressions. Except Malfoy, who seemed to still be recovering. Andrea turned to see Professor Snape standing ten feet away from her. She sighed. Brilliant.

She shoved her half-finished essay into her bag along with her quill and inkpot and headed out of the Great Hall, picking up the heavy textbook on the way. The Great Hall erupted with murmurs as soon as she left the room, and she rolled her eyes.

Gossips, the lot of them! She thought, shaking her head.

Draco stared as he watched Andrea dance with a Durmstrang student at the Yule Ball on Christmas Eve. She looked positively radiant; her chestnut hair was curled and tumbling down her back, she was wearing a simple, navy blue, strapless dress that contrasted beautifully against her chocolate brown eyes, and the only jewellery she wore was a simple silver bangle that swung delicately on her wrist as she danced.

She was giggling as the Durmstrang twirled her around, and Draco regretted not finding the courage to ask her to be his date to the ball. Not that she would have gone with him anyway.

When the music ended, the Durmstrang bowed and kissed Andrea's hand. Draco made the decision instantly, and nudged Blaise as he stood up. The other Slytherin looked at him, and Draco gestured to Andrea. Blaise smiled knowingly, and winked.

Draco took a deep breath, adjusted his dress robes and walked over to where Andrea was inspecting what food was on offer. He tapped her on the shoulder, and when she turned he saw the surprised expression on her face.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Dance with me, Blake?" He offered his hand, smiling at her. Andrea was surprised to see that he was capable of producing a genuine smile, and was even more surprised to find that she thought him cute with it.

She smiled in return, and placed her small hand in his pale one. He led her onto the dance floor and they danced gracefully.

"So Blake," Draco tried to think of a good conversation topic. "Who's the lucky guy calling himself your date tonight?" Andrea felt her mouth go dry. She should've known he'd ask this.

"Erm," she stammered, trying to think of a good way to say she'd come alone. She decided to just come out with it. "Nobody asked me."

"What?!" He asked, incredulously. She looked sharply at him.

"What?"

"Nobody asked you? I don't believe that for a second!"

"Well believe it Malfoy, because it's true." He shook his head in disbelief and adjusted his hand on Andrea's waist.

When the song ended, she pulled away.

"Thanks for the dance, Blake," he said, smirking. Her smile faltered at the fact that his trademark smirk was back, but he didn't notice.

"You're welcome, Malfoy," she replied, smiling. Draco lifted her hand to his lips, and Andrea felt herself blush slightly. As she walked away, she hoped he hadn't noticed her blushing at him kissing her hand.

But he had, and he thought about it for the remainder of the night.

As the second task neared its end, Seamus Finnigan comforted Andrea in an attempt to calm her nervousness at Harry's failure to surface. He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

Draco glared at him from across the stands, and considered hexing him.

Ron appeared with a little girl, presumably Fleur Delacour's little sister Gabrielle, and everyone held their breath waiting for Harry to follow. Eventually he did, just as the clock struck the end of their hour.

Andrea pulled away from Seamus and rushed to help a recovering Harry, and Draco sighed. She would never rush to help him like that.

"You alright, mate?" Blaise asked, frowning. Draco nodded.

"Yeah," he said, sighing again. "I just wish she didn't hate me."

"I doubt she hates you," Blaise said, chuckling. "She danced with you at the Ball, didn't she?"

"Well yes, but she was probably just feeling nice and didn't want to ruin the atmosphere," Draco protested. "Besides, if I let myself think she doesn't hate me then I'll end up convincing myself that I can actually have her."

Blaise scoffed and shook his head. He'd seen Andrea blush when Draco kissed her hand at the Yule Ball, seen how good they were together.

As they made their way back to the castle, Pansy Parkinson latched herself onto Draco's arm and he cringed.

"Draco," Pansy whispered, leaning close to him.

"Yes, Pansy?"

"Will you help me with the Potions essay?" Draco inwardly groaned and shot Blaise a pleading look.

"Actually, he's helping me with something," Blaise said, and Pansy narrowed her eyes.

"What?"

"None of your business!" Blaise replied dismissively. Pansy stalked off, arms folded across her chest, and Draco sighed in relief.

"Thank you!"

"Now you can help me with the Potions essay," Blaise said, smirking. Draco shrugged.

"Okay."

They entered the library, having returned to the common room to grab the necessary equipment. Blaise located a table while Draco searched for the right textbook.

While scanning the bookshelves, he caught a glimpse of Andrea seated at a table, quill in hand. She was pouring over a textbook, and Draco realised it was the one he needed.

He rushed back to Blaise, who had apparently broken his quill.

"Can you lend me one?" He asked as Draco sat down.

"Blake's got the textbook," Draco said. Blaise looked at him.

"Ask her to join us," he said simply. "Then we can all use it." Draco looked at him as if he had three heads.

"Are you crazy?" He shook his head in disbelief. Blaise shrugged.

"I'll do it then," he said, getting to his feet. Draco let his head fall into his hands as Blaise walked away.

Andrea heard footsteps approaching her table and looked up to see Blaise Zabini looking at her.

"What, Zabini?" She asked, sighing.

"Will you join Draco and me?" He asked. Andrea detected nothing behind his voice; no sarcasm, no mocking. Nothing.

"What for?" She asked hesitantly. The last thing she wanted was to be near Malfoy after what had happened at the Ball.

"You're using the textbook we need," Zabini replied.

"Oh," was all Andrea could say. That was not what she'd been expecting.

"We won't bite, Blake," Zabini said, a hint of teasing now evident in his tone. "We just want to get this essay out of the way."

"Fine," Andrea muttered, handing him the textbook and picking her things up.

"Thank you," he said, leading the way back to his table. Andrea noticed Malfoy's eyes widened as she nervously sat down at their table, and Blaise smirked at him.

"Erm, hi," Andrea managed, struggling to understand why she'd agreed to sit with the two Slytherins. She absently twirled a few strands of hair around one of her fingers, oblivious to Malfoy's gaze upon her, as she found the right page of the textbook again.

She pulled out the piece of parchment she'd begun writing the essay on, as well as her quill and ink pot.

"Where did you get to?" Zabini asked. Andrea told him, and waited while the two boys caught up, enabling them to work at the same pace and help each other if necessary.

As Andrea made her way back to the Gryffindor common room later on, she marvelled at how strangely comfortable she'd felt with them, and wondered how that was so.

On the day of the third task, students from the three magical schools swarmed down to the stands that were situated at the entrance to the Maze.

Andrea seated herself between Hermione and Seamus, chatting excitedly about the task and what it would entail.

Harry, Cedric, Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour stood at their individual entrances to the Maze, and when Argus Filch blew the cannon they disappeared within rather quickly.

The entrances sealed themselves and Andrea took deep breaths to calm her nerves.

She hoped none of them would get seriously injured, or even injured at all, whilst inside the Maze, and Seamus squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"They'll be fine," he said, smiling. Andrea smiled back.

Draco was seated in the row behind Andrea with Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise and Pansy. Crabbe and Goyle were talking food, as usual, and Pansy was telling Blaise all about the new dress her mother had bought for her.

Draco's attention was fixated on Andrea, and he noticed her evident anxiety. He saw Finnigan comforting her and inwardly groaned as that desire to be in the Irish Gryffindor's position filled him.

After about an hour and a half, two figures appeared in front of the stands. Viktor and Fleur had already returned, so everybody knew it was Harry and Cedric. But Andrea knew something was wrong.

She stood with everybody else, but she wasn't cheering. Cedric's eyes were wide, and she could see their emptiness from where she stood. Harry was crying into Cedric's chest, but nobody else seemed to have noticed.

Fleur Delacour was the first to scream, a high-pitched sound that shocked everyone into realisation.

"Harry!" Andrea cried, attempting to rush to his side. Seamus didn't move in time to stop her, but a pair of arms around her waist lifted her back and prevented her from reaching the pair.

Draco held Andrea tightly as she screamed for Harry and Cedric, desperate to aid them. She kicked and scrambled and tried her upmost best to pull away from him, but to no avail.

Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle were looking at them in horror, while Blaise's eyes held respect for Draco for acting so publicly.

Andrea eventually calmed down, after Moody took Harry away and the teacher's dealt with Cedric's body and his traumatised father. She leaned into Draco's chest and breathed deeply.

Andrea's fellow Gryffindors noticed, as well as the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws, but they were all a lot less obvious with their curiosity than the Slytherins were with their shock and horror.

But she didn't care whose arms were around her, whose aftershave she was breathing in, whose voice was whispering soothingly into her hair.

All she cared about was that in those arms, she felt safe, safer than she had all year.

Eventually the whispers about Andrea and Draco died down, mainly due to the fact that Draco stated he was merely restraining her while the teachers dealt with a dead student, and Andrea simply said that she didn't even know what she was doing.

But Andrea knew that, once she had calmed down, she knew exactly what she was doing, and Draco knew that his actions went beyond feeling a duty to restrain her.

Now they were both finding it difficult to ignore, but each was completely indifferent to how the other felt.

Seamus and Dean joined Andrea in the train compartment, and soon after they began the journey back to Kings Cross, they were joined by Neville and Ginny.

"This was left out there for some reason, Andie," Ginny said, handing her an envelope.

Her name was scrawled on the front, and Andrea recognised the handwriting but didn't know where from.

"What is it?" Dean asked curiously. Andrea shrugged.

"No idea," she replied, flipping it over in her hands. "But it can wait." She shoved it into her jacket pocket, and the rest of the train journey was filled with random conversational topics, what the next year at Hogwarts may have in store, what everyone was doing over the summer, food from the trolley and lots of jokes.

But as soon as Andrea got home, she rushed to her room and pulled out the now-crumpled envelope. She opened the envelope and gently pulled out the small piece of parchment that was folded inside.

Andrea,

Your chestnut brown hair shines in such a way that even the sun is jealous.

Your eyes make me think of large pools of caramel chocolate.

Your smile lights up the room better than even Hogwarts best candles.

Your laugh is a more magical sound than a mermaid's song.

I look forward to seeing you next year,

You alone make it bearable.

She smiled to herself, wondering who it could be, and if they would make themselves known when they returned to Hogwarts in September.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me if you like this story, because I don't know if I am going to continue this story.


End file.
